Île du Levant
| Île du Levant | ||
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_-_C%C3%B4te_ouest.JPG) |
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| Waters | Mediterranean Sea | |
| Archipelago | Îles d'Hyères | |
| Geographical location | 43 ° 1 '48 " N , 6 ° 28' 18" E | |
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| surface | 9 km² | |
| Residents | 100 (2004) 11 inhabitants / km² |
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| main place | Heliopolis | |
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The Île du Levant ( German " Island of the East / Sunrise " ) is the easternmost of the three islands in the Îles d'Hyères archipelago .
geography
The Île du Levant is located off the French Mediterranean coast near Toulon . It is east of the island of Port-Cros with an average width of one kilometer and a length of about eight kilometers from southwest to northeast . The highest point on the island is 138 meters above sea level. It can be reached by ferry from Hyères and Le Lavandou .
history
Over the centuries the island has repeatedly been a refuge for religious orders. Monks of the Lerin order built a seat in their church. The Benedictines and later the Knights of the Cross settled on the Île du Levant since the 15th century . Only ruins in the Jas-Vieux valley remain of the monastery buildings . The Paris doctors Gaston and André Durville were among the apostles of naturopathy and sunbathing therapy in the years after the First World War . They turned the rocky wasteland into a colorful exotic garden, set up hundreds of bungalows on their property and rented them out to their sick people. In 1931 they founded Heliopolis as the first naturist village in Europe. The French military has been operating a missile test site in a restricted military area since 1948.
Infrastructure and use
At the end of the 1960s, French medium-range missiles and rockets for exploring the high atmosphere were launched from the Caisson Nemo launch pad . Because of the restricted area, only about 150 hectares with the village of Heliopolis are freely accessible.
The village has a small school, a town hall, church, bakery, post office, bazaar and a police station. Also a grocery store (Le Bazar D'Héliopolis) and clothing stores that also offer «le minimum». With naturism it stands for an alternative and nature-loving way of life. At the beginning of the 1950s, it was one of the main attractions of the French tourism industry: guests even came from New York by plane to the small island to enjoy nude bathing and to live naturism.
Nudity is permitted and expected everywhere in the generally accessible areas of the island, except at the port, in the shops and in the village square. There you have to wear at least «le minimum»: a pareo or a string . In the relaxed atmosphere of the island, the relevant policy of the administration is not really enforced, but generally observed. All facilities are for naturists. A bus transfer is offered.
In the village there are hotels, apartments, studios, bungalows, bed-and-breakfasts and camping facilities. The rocky beaches along the coast and the two sandy beaches Bain de Diane and Plage des Grottes are nudist beaches. In the restaurants outside the center of the village, clothing is usually worn, but topless is accepted; «Le minimum» is sufficient as clothing. The restaurants La Fourmi and Heliotel invite you to visit the restaurant naked.
Outside of Heliopolis is the Domaine des Arbousiers nature reserve with its strawberry trees as the main tourist attraction. The Sentier Nature in the Domaine des Arbousiers nature reserve offers beautiful views .
Robert A. Heinlein's science fiction novel Street of Glory (Glory Road) enthuses the original life on the island.
Web links
- History Levant. bertigianluca.it, archived from the original on March 18, 2010 ; accessed on February 5, 2016 .
- Tourist information of the Domaine naturiste d'heliopolis in English and French , published by the Union des Commerçants du Soleil Levant
- Jean-Jacques Serra: Levant island and Biscarosse Information about the rocket launch site
- Ile du Levant in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
- Guide du Levant via France Naturisme, with current maps and tourist information
Individual evidence
- ↑ Der Spiegel, report 1955
- ↑ Der Spiegel, report 1955
- ^ Levant Island (Ile du Levant). beyond.fr, accessed on May 24, 2012 .
- ↑ Arrêté municipal d'Hyères N ° 25, March 14, 1978; changed on April 20, 2005.
- ↑ Var-Matin, June 14, 2008
- ↑ La Fourmi website . Retrieved June 2, 2012 (French).
- ↑ La Fourmi-Ile du Levant. gay-provence.org, accessed June 2, 2012 (French).
- ↑ FKK Travel Guide Europe 2020 , p. 131, Drei Brunnen Verlag, Plüderhausen, ISBN 978-3-7956-0352-6